Toph of the Desert
by Willow0Angel
Summary: Co-authored by ChelberNo1. Naruto/A:TLA. Toph Beifong wakes up in [Naruto's world] and she has no idea where to go. She wanders around for a while and, after a while, finds herself in the Village Hidden in the Sand. The Kazekage, Gaara of the Desert, offers her sanctuary for a while. What happens? Read to find out
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hey guys! ChelberNo.1 here!**

**So this is a story MorllyberNo.1 came up with a crossover between Avatar and Naruto. Since I haven't actually seen/read Naruto, I am here to make sure Toph is not OOC. Because I'm obsessed with A:TLA, so I mostly know all of the Character's characters. If that made sense.**

**So, Morlly is coming up with the story as we go along, and I'm there touching up Toph and any other A:TLA person, and suggesting ideas.**

**Enjoy!**

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_[Toph_]

Hi! I have no idea who you are, but it's nice to meet you anyway. Whoever's reading this, this story's about me. Yep, me. Sounds self-centered, doesn't it? Well, now you gotta deal with it.

It's possible that you've heard of me. I'll give you three clues: Avatar. Blind. And… earthbender. You got it? Yes? No? Maybe? Well, if you do, I'm mentally cheering. If you don't… well, hi there, lily liver!

My name is Toph Beifong, Avatar Aang's earthbending teacher. Yup. The Avatar. I kicked his butt more times than he'd like to admit. I may be blind but I'm _NOT _helpless. I suppose I could try to explain how I get along, but that would take _way_ too long so I'll put it in two simple sentences: I can "see" with my feet. In other words, I feel vibrations and know where everything is.

This little-ish story is about when I woke up one day and found myself in a very strange place… it's hard to explain. I'm sure I went to sleep in my own bed, and when I wake up, I'm in who-knows-where! Well, I suppose I should get on with it, shouldn't I?

Happy reading.


	2. One

**A/N: Hi! Chelber again! Yeah, I have control of the author's notes. You gotta deal with it!**

**Thanks to all who read! Hope you enjoy! Reveiws very appreciated! **

**And just saying, I had lots of fun with Toph's reactions and these next few chapters...**

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_Toph_

I woke up sitting up against a tree. I yawned and stretched my arms out. I honestly couldn't tell where I was. Obviously I couldn't see anything, and the only vibrations I felt seemed to be leaves blowing across the ground in the breeze. I slid my foot around a little to see if I could feel anything big. Nothing. So I stood up and walked a ways. I figured I was in a forest, the amount of trees there were around.

After a while I came to the edge of the forest, and there was… sand. And a lot of it. I raised some rock and sat down on it. I thought about what to do. I could stay in the forest and eat who-knows-what until someone finds me or I could go out in the desert and get caught in sandstorms with no food or water and possibly die out there. I grinned. What's a life without adventure? It all seems to have worn off since me, Aang and the rest of the group saved the world from the Phoenix-King-of-getting-his-butt-whooped. It had been four years already. (I remembered myself as a twelve-year-old, teaching Aang earthbending…) So I stood up again and walked out into the sand. My vision blurred just a little, but my sandbending helped the situation.

Seeing as that desert went on forever, I'll save you the trouble of telling it all. I will tell you that I walked in a straight line for a day and a half, though. And that I got caught in a sandstorm that only lasted for about ten minutes. Pathetic little sandstorm.

I'll skip to where I felt earth. There was a lot, too. I quickened my pace and walked towards it. It didn't take long. I used sandbending to speed my travel up a little. Soon enough, I was right in front of it. I felt a lot of people faintly. It was like an entire village was hidden in the sand! Hang on… it _was_ a village. Weird. (But at least it wasn't buried in ash, That was plain creepy)

"Hold it!" I heard a man shout. Then I felt five men surround me, and the clink of metal. "Who are you?"

"Who are _you_?" I asked them. I felt them draw closer.

"Which village are you from?" A woman asked me.

"What are you talking about?" By then I was very confused. They were closing in, one step at a time. "Don't come any closer!" I warned them. I readied myself to bend the sand around me.

"State your name!" another woman told me.

_Settle down, cranky pants! _"Who wants to know?"

A man interrupted. "We are the Shinobi of the Hidden Sand village. What is your business here?"

_Not being bossed around? _"I got lost." Silence.

"You'll have to come with us." The first man said. I nodded slightly. They formed a formation around me: two in front, one behind and one on either side. They started walking and the one behind me pushed my shoulder.

"Get off me!" I said, and then I had a thought.

Why not shake things up a little? I bended the sand towards her and she went flying behind me, and the two on my sides grabbed my arms. I stamped my foot and sand shot up and pulled them away. The two in front of me had barely turned around and I heard the clinking of metal again. I twisted my foot and sand rooted them where they were. Then sand shot up and hit them in the head.

I had no idea where I was, but that was fun.

I cracked my knuckles, waiting for them to fight back.


	3. Two

_[Gaara]_

_I am Gaara of the Desert. I am the Fifth Kazekage of the Village hidden in the Sand. I am also a Jinchuriki, like Naruto Uzumaki of the Leaf Village. This is my part of the story._

_I came across a young girl one day, my age, and she interested me like none other. She was blind, and she could manipulate earth, metal and sand to do her will. But that wasn't the reason I was interested in her._

_She was probably the first person to not judge me upon meeting me. My voice or way of speaking didn't seem to intimidate her. And when I met her, little did I know that my life would change dramatically._

_So, here's my part._

…

"Gaara, Gaara!"

I looked up as Kankuro slammed the door of my office open.

"What is it?" I asked.

"We're being attacked!" He said. That got my attention. I stood up.

"Who?" I asked impatiently.

Kankuro shook his head. "One girl, about sixteen. She took down five Jōnin Shinobi! On her own, no weapons at all!"

I walked towards him. "Where is she?"

We started running. "Main entrance." He said. We hurried towards it. When we got there, sure enough, there was a sixteen-year-old sitting in the middle of the five Jōnin I had as lookouts on the ground around her. She was sitting with her legs crossed with her head resting on a hand. She huffed.

"Hey," she said as I came within earshot. "You should get better guards, you know." I was surprised. Not many could take down fully trained Shinobi like that. Some sand came out of my gourd and floated in front of me. She suddenly looked up as a few grains of sand dropped to the ground.

"Who are you?" I asked her.

"Toph Beifong." She answered. "You got a problem, buddy?"

"Hey!" Kankuro interrupted. "Speak with respect to the Kazekage!"

"What the _hell _is a Kaze-whatever? And don't yell at _me, _if you want to walk away with all of your limbs. I'm _Toph Bei Fong, _remember?"

Then I was amazed. She'd never heard of the Kazekage. "Who are you?" I asked again.

"Do I need to say it for the third time? Seriously, buddy?"

Kankuro and I looked at each other. We were both at a complete loss of words.

"Come with me." I told her. "Kankuro, get these Shinobi to the medical wing."

"Yes, of course." Kankuro wandered over to the Shinobi. Toph stood up, stretched, and followed me.

We wandered through the village. I glanced back a Toph and she had her hands in her pockets and wasn't looking around at all. She was looking straight at the ground, actually. Her pale green eyes didn't wander at all.

We reached my office and Toph wandered in after me, dragging her feet a little. I closed the door behind her. I went down and sat behind my desk. She wandered over to another chair and sat down.

"Who are you?" I asked a third time. She sighed.

"For the last time, I'm Toph Beifong." She huffed. "Is there some sort of problem?"

"Not yet." I told her. "Where are you from?"

"What are we playing, twenty questions?" she asked. I didn't say anything. Finally she gave in. "I currently reside in Ba Sing Se." I just looked at her. "Ba Sing Se? Hello! The biggest Earth Kingdom town? Ring any bells? Or have you just been living under a rock?" I just continued to look at her. I was at a complete loss of words. She seemed to be talking nonsense.

Who was this girl?


	4. Three

_[Toph]_

"So," Gaara sighed. "How did you do it?"

"You're going to have to be a little more specific." I replied. I put my hands behind my head and leant back in the chair. Comfy chair, too.

"How did you beat the five Shinobi I had guarding the main entrance?"

"What the hell is a Shi-nobi?"

Gaara was silent. Well, how was I supposed to know what a Shinobi thing was anyway? I'd never even heard of the word!

"The guards that you knocked out."

"Oh. Them." I rolled my eyes. Some guards they were. "Sandbending."

"What's sandbending?"

I froze. The two front legs of my chair fell to Earth - or whatever this place was - with a _clunk_. "You don't know what sandbending is?" I asked him, paralysed. "Come on, you must have heard of it. You're a sandbender!"

Gaara sat down on a chair behind a desk. "Define a sandbender., then."

I groaned. Where the freaking hell was I? "It's exactly what it sounds like. Bending is... _manipulating_ an element to that person's will. You bend sand, I felt it earlier."

"_Felt _it?"

"I feel vibrations in the ground." I explained. "Buddy, I felt sand fall from the air near you. Unless it was the other guy with a bad attitude - which I doubt it was - you're a sandbender. Don't tell me you didn't know that."

And then - what do ya know - the guy with a bad attitude walked in.

"Who's the one with a bad attitude?" he asked.

"Well, seeing as you're the one wearing an outfit that seems like a dog, it's you."

"Why you little -"

"Kankuro," Garra cut in. "Miss Bei Fong, that's enough." Wait a sec, did he just call me MISS Bei Fong? Wow, that's new. I've only ever been Toph, The Blind Bandit or Sifu Toph. But _Miss_? Definitely not my style.

"Well, _excuse me_," I said. "Do I seem like a _Miss _to you? You may think you're being polite, or whatever your version of polite is, but I am _not _a _Miss_. Do I seem delicate? Actually, no, I'll answer that for you. _No. _I am not _Miss. _I am Toph. I am Sifu. I am the _fricken Runaway._"

Gaara didn't answer me. He addressed the other guy. Y'know, the one with the stupidly long name. "What is it, Kankuro?"

"The Leaf Shinobi have arrived." Kankuro told him, gritting his teeth. I felt Gaara nod. Kankuro left. He turned to me.

"We have a room for you." He said.

I stood up and gave him a mock bow. "Yes, _mum._ I'll just go to my room and stop bothering you. You can stay here and all your grown-up things." I smirked.

Gaara was silent. No sense of humor whatsoever. Huh. What a boring guy. But I'm sure I felt Kankuro's mouth twitch slightly.

I followed one of Gaara's minions out into the hallway. He took a left and indicated that I follow him. I felt vibrations all along the hall. There were two behind us. One a long way away and four heading right for us.

"So why DID we have to come all of a sudden?" I heard a male voice ask.

"Gaara summoned us here." An older male replied. Summoned? Who does he think he IS? The fricken KING?

"Yeah, but why now?" Another boy asked. "Is it such a good time?"

"Sai, Naruto, enough." a girl butted in. "Just trust Milady. She is the Hokage, after all." HOkage, this time? What is it with these people and... kage-things?

Then they were close enough to be right in front of us. They all fell silent as they saw me. I didn't turn my head toward them, or even acknowledge them in the slightest. But I felt their hearts race with confusion. Apparently I looked out of place.

"Who was she?" the first boy asked in a hushed tone.

"I don't know." The older male said, confusion in his voice. "But she doesn't look like a Shinobi of any kind."

What was with these people?


	5. Four

**A/N: Chelber here again. Who else? **

**Short chapter this time, but the next one is nice and long! Enjoy! (And, you know, if you have the guts, review) **

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_[Gaara]_

I was in my study that same afternoon, having sent Team Kakashi on it's latest mission. I was _trying _to do some work, but I kept getting distracted by some rumbling sounds. They seemed to be coming from Toph's room. My sand gathered around me as I hurried to her room. It sounded like explosions.

I opened the door to her punching rocks around the room. She looked up as I entered, but not _at _me. She sent a glare in my general direction, then continued punching rocks, sending them across the room.

"What are you doing?" I asked her.

"What does it look like?" she replied. She punched another rock.

I sighed. "_Why_ are you doing it?" I asked. She stopped what she was doing and looked directly at me. Well, her head was turned directly at me. He eyes were glazed, focused on some point far away. She shrugged.

"Because I'm bored," she grumbled. "You seriously expect me to sit around doing nothing?" she stamped her foot and a rock... jumped up from the ground? She kicked out with her other foot and the rock went crashing into the wall opposite her. Then her eyes brightened, as if she just had an idea.

She turned towards me and got into a fighting stance, which I recognised as the Southern Praying Mantis. "Show me what you got," she smirked, her dark bangs falling in front of her eyes.


	6. Five

**A/N: Yelllooo fellow follows! **

**This chapter is shorter than I thought it was. On the word document, it was _massive. _Ah well. Quality rather than quantity, right?**

**Hehe, you should've seen all the virtual arguments we got into over Toph's character here. (Morllyber keeps forgetting that she is BLIND! and I kept getting Gaara's character wrong.) **

**Review us!*Does the please-will-you-review-this-story-dance***

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_[Toph]_

"Show me what you got." I demanded, getting into my fighting stance. His heartbeat didn't change, the sand curling around his arm. I smirked. "Oh dear, always needing sand to protect you?" I laughed. "You some kind of wimp?"

"Why fight here?" He asked.

"Because I said so. You got a problem with that?" I stamped my foot. The ground crumpled and lurched towards him, but he jumped backwards before it could crush him. His sand shot through the air and grabbed hold of my left arm. Damn it. I couldn't see the sand in the air.

"If you insist on fighting, not here." he said. I tilted my head, raising an eyebrow.

"Where then?"

He didn't say anything, just walked out f the door. I hesitated, then followed.

He led me to an area, completely bare of anything, except sand and dirt. I stopped when his weight lifted from the ground and reappeared a little way away. I shifted my foot slightly and felt Kankuro standing a way off. He was shaking a little from silent laughter. _Huh. I'll show him. _

I got into my typical stance - knees bent, feet apart, fists at my side. I took little breaths, trying to be as quiet as possible, so I could hear _everything. _We were still until he shifted and threw his arm out. I could feel some sand in the air and before I could move, it had covered me. I grinned and clenched my hands.

"Impossible!" I heard Gaara gasp. "It's turned to stone!" And indeed it had. I had turned the sand covering me to solid stone.

"You just trapped yourself."

I just grinned and started laughing.

But, no, I haven't just trapped myself. Blind, not stupid.

Drawing my arms over my chest, making myself as small as possible, I stamped my foot. The ground below me opened up, and fell down into the hole I created. The stone statue thing I had made stayed above, unmoving.

I silently earthbent a tunnel, leading directly behind Gaara. he was still staring at my statue, waiting for something to happen. His eyes narrowed.

Ignorant.

I widened my stance, and took a deep breath. Then my shot my arms up, hands fisted, punching the earth above me, right where Gaara was standing.

The earth exploded outwards, Gaara with it. I could feel boulders and rock - the debris - falling heavily back to the ground, and waited for Gaara to fall, as well. With a _thump, _he did as well. But before I could move again he was on his feet.

Grinning ear to ear, I climbed out of my tunnel and smirked in his general direction.

"If you can't see me, don't just presume I'm where you think I am. I am _Toph Bei Fong, _remember? I don't easily trap myself in my own stone."

Gaara was silent. He just thrust his hand out and I heard more sand flying through the air. I bent my own sand up to meet it. At the same time I stamped my foot and brought up a huge rock. I jumped and kicked it, landing squarely on my feet as it barreled towards him. Sand simply came up and blocked it, before covering it and crushing it to bits. The small smile that I had on my face faded.

_Crap. He's better than I thought._ I felt Kankuro's weight not far off and he was perfectly still. He seemed to be gaping.

The sand that I was bending to block his was weakening. I didn't feel Gaara move at all! He was still as a rock (no pun intended). But his sand got stringer and stronger until eventually it broke mine and hit me square in the stomach. It sent me flying.

I managed to flip myself over and land on my feet. Then I dropped to one knee and doubled over, coughing up blood.


	7. Six

**A/N: Chelber is BAAACK! And we being you some more TotD! So, another short chapter here, BUT, from here on, we start getting into the plot some more! I will be writing a few chapters, toggling back to what's happening with the Gaang, then back to Naruto land, when shit gets real. Excuse my French. **

**Disclaimer: We no owny A:TLA or Naruto... **

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_[Toph]_

I coughed and spat blood for a few seconds. That sand really packed a punch. When the blood stopped coming I just knelt there, panting and glaring in Gaara's direction. He was slowly lowering his arm. Kankuro was perfectly still, just... not doing anything.

With a small grin I stood up.

"You're not bad, buddy." I called in his direction. "Not bad at all." So I bent sand up so it swirled around me, the same as him. At that moment, we were perfectly in sync. We struck out our arms and sand met in mid-air and withdrew, before striking out again.

And then IT happened. He jumped and his sand followed him. He was completely gone. I had no idea where the heck he was. I stopped bending and focused n my hearing. The slightest movement would give away his position.

And I went flying. A sand tendril caught me on the chest, sending me sprawling over the ground. But before I could do anything it was gone and back again in a split second. It struck me again and again, sharp as a knife and cutting me across the shoulders and chest. I felt blood slowly seeping out of the cuts. I curled myself into a ball and cried out with each strike.

Then they stopped. I heard Gaara's voice from the air somewhere. "Are you done yet?" he asked in that boring monotone voice of his.

I uncurled myself slowly. I rolled onto my hands and knees and coughed blood again. I put a hand on my chest and felt blood all over it. I tried to stand up and fell over. My head was aching. It hurt so badly.

So I tried again, using the earth to steady me. "Am I -" I muttered through clenched teeth. "Am I done?" I asked myself. My head dropped and I fell forwards. Landing on my chest sent pain all through my body and I screamed. But I managed to stand up again. Gritting my teeth I looked where Gaara's voice had come from. "I'm -" I started. I raised my voice. "I'm nowhere near done!" I stamped my foot and raised my arms. A giant sand cloud raised itself above me and in a second, I could feel the air. Gaara was still where he had spoken but before I could move he was up and out of the cloud. But I sent a rock up, with another hiding in it's shadow, and waited. I faintly heard a gasp and silence.

Then there was a _thump_ and vibrations went racing through the ground. Before Gaara could move I bent earth and strapped him to the ground. He was drawing ragged breaths but was otherwise still. He was down and I had won.

I used my bending to lower the cloud and I heard Kankuro gasp and felt him running over. But I was already at Gaara's side. I smirked down at him. He tilted his head slightly and I could tell he was looking at me.

"_Now_ I'm done." I panted. "I am Toph Bei Fong and I am the greatest earthbender in the world. And you'd better not forget it."

But in that moment my head felt like it had exploded. My knees gave way and I fell to the ground and passed out.

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The next day, I was lying in a hospital bed with bandages all around my body. It was like a... cocoon? No, that's not that word I'm thinking of. Well, I'll think of it later. Anyway, Gaara had already recovered from his wound but I think he'll have a big bruise for a while. And being in the bed meant I couldn't see anything. _Anything._

"You're not bad, Bei Fong." Came Gaara's voice from somewhere to my right.

"Oh, are we on a last-name basis now?" I retorted. "I'd do the same, but I don't know yours." Gaara didn't move.

"I didn't think 'benders' existed." He murmured. "I thought they were legends."

Say what? "What the hell do you mean, _legends_?" I asked him loudly. "There's one lying in this bed! They're all over the world! Remember the freaking 100 Year _War? _When Sozin, Azulan and Ozai - all fire_benders - _went crazy and killed all-" Well, most, "- air_benders?" _

"No, they're not. And no, I haven't." Gaara said. I heard footsteps and the scraping of a chair. I guessed he was sitting next to me now. I heard the rustle of clothing and the flicking of paper. It was easy to figure out he had taken a book from a pocket. "When I was little, I read this book. I thought it was just a fairytale." More flicking of pages. "Is this right?"

"Is what right?" I asked.

"Look at this."

Say what? I sighed, annoyed. "My _god_ you people are so stupid!" I sat up in the bed and turned to where his voice was coming from.

"Excuse me?" Gaara seemed to stand up.

I sighed again. "What's wrong with you people!?" I waved my hand in front of my face. "I'm _blind_!"


	8. Seven

**A/N: Hey guys! We're not dead!**

**Uh, sorry for the wait on this chapter, but it took me ages to write ^^'. THAT'S RIGHT. Yup. I got around to writing a chapter for this epic series. :P**

**Hope ya'll enjoy! **

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_Meanwhile, back in Ba Sing Se, in the Avatar Universe..._

Sokka raised a hand in greeting to an Earth General as he leisurely strolled through the hallways. Though it was early – for Sokka, that is – in the morning, people were already rushing around like headless cow-chooks, rushing to meetings, going through documents at the last minute, trying to catch up on paperwork…

Sokka happily strolled through the middle of all the chaos. It was true – he had no meetings to attend to today, no paperwork to struggle through, nowhere to be… and he was enjoying every damned minute of it. Especially being around other people who did have to do that crap.  
It made him relish being free even more.

Seeing an open doorway and ducking through it, bumping into a harassed-looking attendant while he was at it, running a hand through his straggly wolf tail. He actually had _time_ to properly tie it up today, believe it nor not. Usually half his hair hung out, due to having utterly no time to fix it.

It was all the damned meetings. For some stupid reason, they had increased drastically the last few months, some of them going for over 6 hours at a time. Hell on earth, it was.

But not to today. Sokka grinned stupidly at the empty room he had walked into, chest puffed out. No meetings for _him_ today!

And that, he thought, was the art of arriving early. He was due at a siege of meetings in a few days' time, but, until then, he had those few days to himself. To relax, eat some meat, practise his poetry.

"And that is why I'm called the idea guy," he thumped his chest, addressing the empty room.

The empty room provided no answer.

Shrugging, he wondered out, back into the busy hallways. After a few minutes of being bumped around and his toes getting stood on, he made it to the doors leading outside, into the streets of Ba Sing Se. They were big doors, almost as big as the ones the Earth King had. _Had_.

Grinning at the memory, grabbed the handles and tried to yank the doors open, straining. Like the Earth King's 'Fancy Doors', these were hard to open. Abandoning his attempt, he stepped back, frowning.

Well. Last time, the solution was simple; get Aang to blast the doors down.

Where [was] that sneaky airbender, anyway? Unlike Sokka, Aang had already been in Ba Sing Se for around a week, having been caught up in the endless meetings, due to his Avatar status. Toph, too, actually. Little Toph had known, being the 'World's Greatest Earthbender' meant that she, too had to go to all the diplomatic meetings.

Sokka winced. The poor buggers. A week's worth of meetings felt like a month's worth of slavery, he knew.

Anyway, he should be here… well, this would be like killing two birds with one stone, then. Find Aang and Toph, get Aang to blast down the doors, and they'd all escape. Well, _They'd_ escape. Sokka had nothing to escape from yet. (Yes, he was pretty happy about not having to do work)  
Then, as if on cue - "Sokka!"

Sokka whirled around upon hearing his name, and spotted Aang almost straight away. He was weaving his way through the crowd, his yellow and orange robes standing out against the red and green, looking disgruntled. A bag, looking full and heavy, was slung haphazardly over his shoulder.

"Aang, buddy! I was just about to start looking for you!"

Muttering under his breath, Aang slid to a stop in front of Sokka, being much more successful in cutting through crowds than Sokka's clumsy attempts. "Why? And what are you doing here so early? I thought you weren't due for meetings until a few days' time."

"Because I need your help, because I can, and that is true."

Aang frowned. "Wait, what?"

Sokka laughed. "Your poor brain is fried. I have a solution for that… First things first. Blast down these doors for me."

"_What_?!"

Sokka rolled his eyes. "Don't be all dramatic. They won't open. So blast them down. No one will notice."

"And you think _my_ brain is fried," Aang lent forward, and opened a latch on the doors that Sokka hadn't noticed before. He gave the doors a light push, and they swung open easily. Aang raised an eyebrow at Sokka.

"Or… you could just open them. That works." Sokka started down the steps, motioning for Aang to follow. Aang hesitated for a few moments, feeling the weight of all the documents and paperwork in his bag, the stress of all the meetings to come, then muttered _to hell with it_ and followed.

"This plan is working perfectly so far," Sokka said, with a nod. "Get through those doors, smuggle you out-"

"So that was _smuggling_ me out, was it?"

"-and escape the horror that is the meetings. Now, we just have to get Toph out, then-"

"Wait,_ what_?!" Aang grabbed Sokka's arm, jerking him to a stop. "Toph isn't with you?"

Sokka stared at him. "No. No, she had to attend all these meetings, too. It was only me and Katara that got off them. Haven't you seen her at all?"

Aang stared back at him. "And to think, that I thought she got off having to attend. She's _ditching_!"

"Wait, isn't she here?"

"No! No, I haven't seen her at all." He growled, and started walking again. "She's- she's evil! She left me to fend for myself! Sokka, do you know how _terrible_ it is to be the only 16 year-old, surrounded by old, cranky stuffy people? In a _meeting_?"

Sokka chuckled, jogging to keep up with Aang's long strides. "Yeah, actually. Maybe that's why she's ditching. Toph will be Toph."

"She shouldn't be ditching. Hell, I'm going to find her and drag her back."

"Aw, c'mon. You're just touchy 'cos you got left behind to all those meetings."

"Damn straight I did." Aang stopped suddenly, and Sokka, surprised, bounced off his back, sprawling onto the street. "That's it!" He turned, and saw Sokka sitting on the ground, glaring up at him. "Oh. Sorry." Aang pulled him up again.

"What now?" grumbled Sokka, rubbing his sore backside.

"We'll have to find her! And this is _Toph_ we're talking about… it may take weeks to track down her hiding place and bring her back…"

"What? Seriously, it'd take half that time… oh." Sokka blinked, then smiled as he caught on. "Yeah. _Yeah_. And, we'll need help to find her… we'll need Katara and Zuko to come with us."

Aang nodded solemnly. "Yes. I'd _hate_ to leave while all these meetings are going on, but it must be done."

Sokka grinned evilly, punching Aang in the arm. "This," he stated, "is the best escape plan. I'll talk to the Earth Generals, explain that we need to go. You go get Appa, we'll pick up Zuko and Katara. And then, we'll search for the missing Toph. Which _may_ take months."

Aang saluted. "Yes, sir."

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**A/N: Okay, this time it's Morllyber here ^-^ So, this is one of the only A/N's I'm gonna write. As Chelber said above, sorry for the uber-long wait. But it's here now!**

**So, in this story I'll probably write most of the chapters. But, due to Chelber knowing more about A:TLA than I do, she'll be writing the chapters that have the Gaang in them. And now that we've come this far, she's gonna have a WHOLE lot more to write. Congratulations, Chelber, now you have a lot more to do than make sure that Toph is not OOC.**

**Well, thanks for reading this far! MorllyberNo.1 and ChelberNo.1 signing out - peace out, dudes!**


	9. Eight

**A/N: Okay, so I lied. It's Morllyber here again. I am currently sitting next to Chelber in the school library and she really doesn't feel like talking to people right now, so I'm here instead. You'll just have to deal with me today.**

**So, a big huge massive thank-you to the awesome 60 subscribers, it really means a lot. BUT we only have 13 reviews?! I am begging you, please review and tell us what you think! Please please PRETTY PLEASE!**

**So, read, review, and enjoy! Sorry this chapter took so long, I'm in charge of the Naruto land chapters and I was a little busy with exams and stuff. But exams are over now, so I will give you the next chapter ASAP. Thanks for sticking with us so far, y'all are awesome! Peace out!**

* * *

_[Toph]_

_Mummy! A mummy! _That's _the word I was looking for! Y'know, when I was talking about before when I was... yeah. Nevermind._

Okay, I got him there.

Gaara was silent. I thought that he must've been blind not to notice that I was blind, before taking that thought back.

"You seriously did not notice?" I scoffed. "It is so obvious!"

Gaara slowly sat down again. "I never would have guessed," he said quietly. "How you manage is beyond me."

I rolled my eyes. "Sandman, I told you -"

"Sandman?"

I shrugged. "Everyone's gotta have a nickname, right?" When he didn't answer, I continued: "Anyway, I told you the first day we met that I _feel vibrations in the ground._ It's kinda like seeing with my feet. Which is why I don't wear shoes. The one time I did during the war, I had to kick the sole out of one of them. 'Perfect shoe for the blind earthbender!' " I quoted myself.

"So," Gaara began uncertainly, "this war you're always talking about, is it one of the Great Shinobi wars?" he asked.

"Shi-no-bi wars?" I sounded out. _What is with this place and hard-to-say words? _"Um, what the hell is that?"

Gaara sighed. "There have been three Great Shinobi wars since Shinobi first started. The last one ended about twenty-six years ago."

I pondered this. "Well, no." I said. "I am talking about the hundred-year war that was started by the Fire Nation, that ended... four years ago."

"One hundred years?!" Gaara's voice was shocked (I know! He actually had emotion in his voice! Crazy!) and I swore I could hear his heartbeat. "That long?"

"Yup." I nodded. "Me, Aang, Sokka, Katara and Zuko ended it all. Oh yeah, and Suki."

"How?"

"By invading the Fire Nation, nearly dying, getting attacked by combustion man, nearly dying, crashing some airships, nearly dying and defeating the Fire Lord, Ozai." I counted off on my fingers. "Hang on, I think I'm missing something. Oh yeah, and nearly dying. But we're all still alive!"

Gaara was speechless. "Not even the Shinobi wars lasted that long..."

"They must have been _pre-_tty bad, huh?" I noted.

"We lost many." Gaara admitted, but said no more on the subject. I decided that it would be best not to push it.

"So..." I began, unsure of where to go next. "Good fight?"

I heard Gaara nod. "I'm impressed by how you can use ju - I mean, earthbend without being ale to see."

I rolled my eyes. _It just isn't sinking in, is it? _"Being blind is a major advantage, actually!" I said. "Feeling vibrations is really helpful when you're an earthbender. You can pinpoint the slightest movements and take 'em out. Just like the badgermoles."

"Badgermoles?"

"You really don't know much, do you?" I scoffed. "Badgermoles were the original earthbenders. They're blind, just like me, and they taught me how to get around."

"I see." His voice was as monotone as ever, though I could tell he was still confused. I don't know how I knew, I just did.

"So how do you do it?" I asked.

"Hm?"

I hung my head. This guy was good in a fight, but maybe this was a little too hard for him. I sighed. "You claim you don't know what bending is, and yet you're the best sandbender I have ever seen! And that's saying something, I _have_ met a few sandbenders. _Not_ the kindest people."

"Oh." Gaara seemed to turn away. "That's not bending." He muttered. "You wouldn't understand."

"Try me." I insisted. "I've come across a fair few weird things in my time. And I'm only sixteen!"

Gaara sighed. He was silent for a while, before giving in. "The reason I can do that is because of the demon that's sealed inside of me."


	10. APOLOGIES, NOT AN UPDATE

**APOLOGIES, NOT AN UPDATE**

* * *

Hiya guys, MorllyberNo.1 here.

I'm just here to report that we probably won't be updating for a little while. ChelberNo.1 has really crappy internet and she's only able to come on once every 1-2 weeks as far as I know. Seeing as we proof-read each other's chapters, we won't be able to do much until we go back to school at the end of January.

So, all in all, I'm here to apologise about that.

I hope you don't hate us because we update so slowly, but until then I will write as many chapters for this as possible to make up for it. Meaning, when we go back to school, Chelber will have more than one chapter to proof-read and you'll have more chapters to read. Hope you guys are okay with that!

Well, I think that's all. Peace out!


	11. Nine

**A/N: Hello again! Chelber here... I'm really sorry for the lateness of this, but now that we're back in school, I actually have a secure internet access thingy. I don't really know what's it's called. But, anyway, the thing is we're back in business and will be updating regularly once again! So read, enjoy and review! **

* * *

_[Toph]_

Wait. What?

"Demon?" I repeated? "You're kidding, right?" As if I'd believe that, right...?

Gaara nodded. "Shukaku, the One-Tailed demon."

"Shu... wha?" _Jeez, I swear, if I come across any more hard words Imma chuck a rock at someone!_ "Demon? You're not making any sense."

Gaara sighed softly. "Before I was born, a demon was sealed inside of my mother. I was the only one of three compatible with the demon, and because of that I was born prematurely. I stole the life away from the woman I would've called my mother."

I was speechless for the first time in forever. The only thing even _remotely_ close to that I'd ever heard of was the Avatar Cycle, and even _that_ was completely different. I am thinking my hardest here, and there are no words to describe what I felt in that moment. [A/N: Probably because I'm having a little trouble here... ^-^']

"I... uh..." I tried to find the right words, but they just wouldn't come to me. "Well, I'm not gonna say I'm sorry, cause it wasn't my fault, but there's nothing really else to say."

"Don't bother." The chair scraped as Gaara stood up again. "There's nothing you can do for me." I heard footsteps as he walked away.

With a grunt of pain I swung my legs over the side of the bed and put my feet on the ground, so at least I had _some_ sight, although it was barely any. "Hold on a sec," I called after him. He stopped and turned. "I, uh, kinda have a favour to ask," I started.

"What is it?"

I looked in his general direction. "Um, can I stay here until I figure out how to get home?" I asked carefully. "I mean, I don't really know where home is, or where the fricken hell _I_ am, so I don't exactly have anywhere else to go."

Gaara was silent for a few seconds. Then he turned again and said, "Of course. As long as you need." I wasn't sure, but I swore I could hear a hint of a smile in his voice.

...

About five days later I could finally go without my bandages and not bleed all over the place. I could walk without too much pain and earthbend without a problem. But I guessed I wouldn't be having another fight like the one I had with Gaara for a while.

And I figured out that he really didn't like his nickname. I made a mental note to come up with a better one. And by better, I mean more annoying. Stretching in the hospital room, I grinned to myself. _I feel like I've been issued a challenge. It's on._

I stood up straight when I felt footsteps coming towards the room. The door creaked open and someone I was unfamiliar with entered the room.

"Who is that?" I asked.

"Someone who doesn't want to be here," came the answer. Kankuro. I grinned.

"Hey doggy," I said. His heart rate picked up in annoyance and embarrassment, making me grin wider. "Haven't seen you in a while. How you been?"

"Good, when we're in different rooms," he answered, gritting his teeth (at least, it sounded like it). He walked over to a table and put something metal onto it. I sensed a major rivalry coming between us.

"Right back at ya, doggy," I walked over to the table, sat down on the bed next to it and placed my hand on the metal object. It was big, rectangular and held smaller objects. A breakfast tray. "I suppose you want me to say thanks, huh?"

"That would be appreciated."

"Too bad." I picked up a bowl of rice and some chopsticks. I snapped them apart and dug into the food. Kankuro's heart pounded in annoyance. _I am awesome at this,_ I thought to myself with a grin.

"Why are you grinning like that?" Kankuro had to ask. "It's kinda creeping me out."

"Nothing..." I smiled in the creepiest way I could.

"Yeah, I'm leaving," Kankuro's heart rate picked up considerably and he quickly exited the room, almost slamming the door behind him. I couldn't help myself. I laughed. And laughed and laughed and laughed. _Aw man, I haven't had this much fun since I saw Sokka last!_ A moment later, I finally collected myself and kept eating. _This is gonna be fun._


	12. Ten

**A/N: Hey dudes, Morllyber here again.**

**Okay, Chelber was supposed to write the next chapter but we've both been really busy with homework and CATs and online testing and blah, blah, blah. So, I'm gonna just wing this chapter and hope for the best. *prays that it won't be too bad***

**Well, I won't spend too much time chatting and more time writing! Thanks for sticking with us this far and stay awesome! *peace fingers* Peace out, dudes!**

* * *

_[Toph]_

_Damn, _I grimaced. I ran my hand over my stomach again, feeling a single, long scar across my stomach. I guess that's the one where Gaara hit the hardest. I ran my finger along it. It ran from just right of my belly button up to my side. _Damn, _I thought again.

There was a knock at the door, and I pulled my shirt down. "Yeah?" I called.

"It's me," Gaara replied from the other side of the door. "Can I come in?"

"It's open," I answered and turned towards the door. I heard it open and close. "Hi, _me_," I teased. He sighed. I grinned and folded my arms behind my back. "Yeah, you're gonna have to get used to me."

"Somehow, I doubt I ever will," was all he said.

"Yep, I'm one-of-a-kind," I replied. "So what's up?"

Gaara got straight to the point. "I want to know more about benders."

No question, no "I was wondering", no… nothing. Talk about blunt.

"Sure?" I answered. "What do you wanna know?" I made my way over to the edge of the bed (I was now back in my room. Y'know, the original one.) and sat down.

"What kinds of benders are there?"

"Earthbenders, like me," I began, "Waterbenders, Firebenders and Airbenders. Not many of the Airbenders around anymore – meaning one – but I'm sure Aang and Katara will take care of that one day." I smirked. "And then there's… sub-categories, I suppose. Like lightningbending, metalbending, bloodbending, things like that. And the Avatar, of course."

"Lightning-bending?" he asked.

"Exactly what it sounds like. Bending lightning. Only Firebenders can do that one." _Damn Azula,_ I thought to myself.

"Metalbending?"

"Also exactly what it sounds like. Bending metal. I'm the first person in the world – or, my world – to bend metal." _Another thing that makes me awesome._ "Got something metal? I'll show you."

"Not with me, no."

"Damn, too bad."

"Bloodbending?"

"A Waterbender thing. Not pretty. It's actually bending the blood inside people. It can only be done on a full moon though, when the Waterbenders are strongest."

"I see." He thought for a moment. "What's the Avatar?"

"The Avatar is the only bender that can master all four elements. The Avatar is always reincarnated through the Avatar Cycle: water, earth, fire, air. This time it was Air, and that's Aang. He stopped the war."

"How can a war go for a hundred years?" Gaara asked. Damn, I did a lot of talking. Unlike mister almost-mute over there.

"Good question. Well, Aang was trapped in an iceberg for that hundred years, so… don't ask. That's a bit complicated."

Gaara didn't answer. He didn't move, his heart rate didn't increase or decrease or anything. My spirits, the guy just _stood still_! Jeez!

"You alive in there?" I raised my eyebrows. His heart accelerated for a second, before returning to normal. "Not the chatty type, then."

"No."

"Eh," I said. I slowly found my way over to the bed – note that the floor is wooden, I'm used to earth or sand floors – and sat down. "When am I ever going to find my way out of here?" I mumbled. "The sooner, the better."

"When we figure out how you got here," Gaara answered simply.

"I told you, I have no clue. One day I was in Ba Sing Se, for all those stupid meetings, and the next day I'm here." I sighed and put my hands behind my head, flopping backwards over the bed. I turned my head in Gaara's general direction. "Anyway, I think it's my turn to ask some questions. To make it even, I mean." Gaara was silent, as if waiting. "So, you said you had a demon sealed in you or something. Are there other demons out there?"

"Yes." _You've gotta be kidding me._ "The Nine Tailed Beasts. I have the One-Tails, and Naruto Uzumaki of the Village Hidden in the Leaves has the Nine-Tails. I don't know about the others."

"Where did they come from?" I asked.

"A long time ago, a man called the Sage of the Six Paths created the Nine Tailed Beasts."

"He must have had some serious issues," I commented. Gaara remained silent. _Goddamn, I'm never gonna get a decent conversation outta him, am I?_ I thought to myself, annoyed. _I guess I'm just gonna have to deal with that for now._

_Like I said, the sooner the better._


	13. Eleven

**A/N: Wassup dudes, it's Morllyber here!**

**Okay, Chelber started this chapter, I'm just working on finishing it, as she kindly asked me to. Or, not so kindly. Here's her exact message:**_** "**_**Well, if you're bored, finish up that TotD chapter I was supposed to write, 'cos I won't be doing it anytime soon.****"**

**Nice, ain't she? Hehe, I'm just joking. :P**

**So anyways, hope you dudes enjoy! Leave a Fav if you did, Follow for more chapters and check out our pages!**

**Stay awesome, dudes. Peace out!**

**PS: Sorry if people are OOC, I'm still working on A:TLA characters… hehe~**

* * *

_[Meanwhile, back in the Avatar Universe...]_

'So, you mean to tell me that just to get out of all these meetings, you're planning to go on an imaginary Toph hunt?'

Zuko was leaning back against a tree, glaring at the turtleducks in the pond. Aang nodded happily to him, ignoring the sarcastic note in his friend's voice.

'Yes! Except, it's not an _imaginary _Toph hunt_._She has actually gone missing. It's not like we're making up stories or anything.'

Zuko just groaned. When a servant had run into his room this morning, saying that the Avatar had landed was urgently requesting to see him, he was not expecting _this_. He was expecting something like the rebels were attacking, or that the Earth King had a heart attack, something _important._

Instead, he got a very smug-looking Aang and Sokka, and a tired looking Katara. Before Zuko could even ask what was wrong, Sokka all but dragged him into a spare room in the Palace, whisper-yelling at him to be quiet until Aang and Katara got back (they were settling Appa down in the stables).

When the couple had returned, Zuko had immediately jumped on Katara for answers. "Katara, what is going on?"

Katara just shook her head. "Believe me, I have no idea." She turned to still smug-looking Sokka and Aang. "Something about Toph being AWOL." [A/N: This is a military thing, so would they know this? If not, just change it to 'missing' XD]

Aang nodded frantically, his smirk fading slightly. "She's gone!" He held his hands up. "Missing! Vanished! Completely disappeared! We don't know where to find her!"

Sokka joined in. "And we figured that if she's ditching on meetings, we would need the whole lot of us to bring her back. It may take a while, too."

Zuko sighed. "You're just ditching out on meetings again, aren't you?"

"No!" Aang answered. "Well…"

Katara tapped her forehead with the heel of her palm. "I can't believe you two," she said loudly, putting her hands on her hips. "You go ranting and carrying on and on about Toph going missing and you've looked _all_ over Ba Sing Se and _still_ can't find her, and all you're trying to do is get out of meetings." She shook her head. "You two are hopeless!"

"Katara!" Aang cried desperately. "You do not know what it is like to be the _only_ sixteen-year-old in those meetings, even if I _am_ the Avatar! It's so freaky!"

Sokka poked Aang's shoulder, grinning. "Serves you right for being the Ava-" Katara waved her hand, and a ball of water rose out of the pond and froze around Sokka's foot. He looked down at it. "Hey! Katara!" But Katara wasn't finished. She lifted her hand up and all of a sudden Sokka was upside-down, hanging from an ice block in the air. "_Katara!"_ he screamed. "Get me down from here!"

"Not until you tell me the real reason for bringing us all the way out here," she said crossly.

"Toph is really gone!"

"Oh, really?"

"Yes! Really! Now get me down!"

Katara turned to Aang and Zuko. "Zuko, do you believe any of this?" she asked.

"Which part?" Zuko replied.

"Any of it."

"I believe that Toph ditched, but not that's she's missing."

"Katara," Aang tried. "Listen, Toph really is missing. She ditched all her meetings, we couldn't find her at her house – we really _did_ look – so we really need to look for her."

"Oof!" Everyone turned to see Sokka on the ground, boomerang in hand. Katara raised an eyebrow and waved her hand again. The ice melted and returned to the pond as water. Sokka sat up, rubbing his head. He looked up at everyone. "Toph _is_ gone. How many times do we have to say it?"

"Maybe a few more," Zuko suggested sarcastically, though his voice was cold. "Then we might start believing you."

Sokka stood up and put his boomerang away. "For the last time, _Toph is gone._"

Katara sighed. "Okay then, tomorrow morning we'll head out and check some known places. I still think that Toph is pulling a prank on us, but you never know."

"Yes!" Aang punched the air, before laughing nervously at Katara and Zuko's faces. He brought his hand down.

Zuko sighed. "Come on, I'll show you where you guys can sleep."

* * *

As Katara said, they set out the next day to hunt for Toph, but by the end of the day…

Aang collapsed in a chair. "Aw man!" he cried, flinging his arm over his eyes. "She is _nowhere_ in Ba Sing Se! Nowhere!"

"I find it hard to believe that she's not in any of the surrounding areas, too," Katara added.

Sokka pointed a finger at her accusingly. "So, do you believe us now?" he demanded.

"Well, Toph is definitely not in the city, that's for sure," Zuko said. "She must have really wanted to ditch."

"I agree," Katara said grimly, her mouth drawn into a straight line. "It seems like somethings wrong."

"You think so?" Sokka asked, scratching the back of his head. "You sure she just didn't majorly ditch?"

"Sokka! You're the one that was insisting that Toph is missing!"

"Yeah, but this is Toph we're talking about," Sokka replied.

"No," Aang butted in. "If Toph was just ditching, she would at least stay in the city. Something doesn't feel right."

"You think so?" Zuko asked.

"He's right," Katara agreed. "And the fact that she's not in the outskirts of the city doesn't make much sense to me, either."

Sokka shrugged. "Well, Aang's the Avatar." Then he grinned. "Looks like Team Avatar have another mission!"

But everyone else was grim, and even Sokka was in agreement. Either Toph was in trouble, or she was soon going to be.


End file.
